The Empty Divine Throne (3)
Even after three hundred years, the Underworld hadn't changed much.
Passing the first gateway guarded by Talos, we moved along the riverbank where countless children gazed into the waters. Crossing the river and following the path, we passed scenes of souls being judged for their sins, until we reached the very bottom of the Underworld—the court where souls were tried.
"You're working pretty hard, huh."
「Ah! Life Goddess! We heard you'd gone to sleep, but you've finally awakened?」
Judging souls in the courtroom all by himself was Yanluo. And behind him, assisting with the judgments, was the girl in the black stone slab who looked just like me.
Originally, one of the three would rest at a time, but now with Hades's help, two out of three could rest. It was only natural that Yanluo was handling it alone.
"Yeah. I planned to sleep for about five hundred years, but somehow I ended up waking up."
「Is that so? In a way, it's for the best. Even with just three hundred years of sleep, this much chaos erupted. If you'd slept two hundred more, who knows what would've happened.」
I gave a small nod at Yanluo's words. From what I'd heard so far, it was clear this was a total mess.
Not just Baal's situation, but a new continent rising with massive mana from the ocean depths, and gods from various factions declaring themselves kings of the gods. My plan to set things up to run on their own, step back quietly, and watch while lounging was going down the drain….
But anyway.
"How's Hades doing?"
「Hades. All systems nominal. Death evaluation system all green. No issues.」
「She's handling the overall judgments quite well. At first, her rulings were too strict, but after consulting with us, we adjusted, and now they're appropriately lenient.」
Hmm. Since we programmed her to learn and adapt judgments, it's natural she'd improve over time.
Hades looked just like me, but without horns and with black hair. She seemed to be doing her job perfectly.
「However, there are occasional issues during the trial process. Very rarely… souls reincarnate with memories from their past lives.」
"Memories from their past lives?"
「Yes. We separate the soul and spirit, completely erasing memories before sending the soul to reincarnate. But sometimes the separation isn't perfect… and very rarely, they reincarnate with memories from their previous life or even the Underworld.」
"Hmm… 'Very rarely'—how rare exactly?"
「Statistically, about one case per century.」
I nodded at Hades's response. With the countless souls processed daily in the Underworld, one per century was within the margin of error.
"It won't cause major problems, but just in case, double-check more carefully."
「Understood. Adding one more verification step.」
Hmm. Hades listens well. She's a fragment of my spirit infused with a bit of my divinity… but unlike Baal's fragments, she hasn't caused any trouble.
Oh, right. Where was Baal? I heard he was in the Underworld.
"I heard Baal's soul is here. Where is he?"
「Baal's soul? Perfect timing. Opinions are divided on how to handle him, so if the Life Goddess decides, that would be ideal.」
"Divided opinions? What happened?"
「Divine Spirit. Baal's soul wishes to abandon his divine seat and reincarnate as an ordinary human. But since it's unprecedented, we've put judgment on hold.」
I tilted my head at Hades's words.
Reincarnate as a human? Baal? A god? What process could lead to that conclusion? I had no idea!
"Guess I need to talk to Baal first. Where is he?"
「He's staying in the lodging behind the courtroom where we live. Honestly, we were stumped on what to do.」
Hmm. I entrusted him with the throne of the king of gods, and this is what happens.
Ugh. Fine, let's talk first.
With that, I headed to the lodging where Baal supposedly was, leaving Hades and Yanluo behind.
「Hm? This presence… Mother of Life. Have you awakened?」
Thanatos was reading something in the lodging when I arrived.
"Yeah, ended up waking up somehow. Anyway, I heard Baal's soul is here. Where?"
「Ah, if you're here about him, perfect. He's holed up in his room, refusing to come out until we reincarnate him as a human. Could you handle it? It's beyond our authority to decide.」
"Holed up in his room, huh."
I glanced at the lodging used by the three Underworld gods. From one corner of the building, a familiar presence emanated… yeah, definitely Baal's.
But no sign of Ceres…. Hmm. Did she go out somewhere?
"Where's Ceres?"
「She stepped out to meet a dragon she knows on personal business. Good thing we have more rest days now.」
"Hmm. If it's personal, no need to worry about it."
She's the goddess of death now, but originally a dragon, so it makes sense she'd meet others.
Alright, time to see Baal.
I left Thanatos behind and entered the building.
"Baal."
「……」
I quietly called out to him in front of the door to his room.
"I know you're in there. Open the door. Let's talk."
「……」
Baal stayed silent. As if he couldn't even talk to me.
"If you won't open it, I'll smash it down and drag you out. You know what I might do then, right?"
After my low warning, the firmly shut door slowly creaked open.
And there…
「Gaia…」
Baal appeared, a total wreck—nothing like the boy he'd been before I slept. His body had grown into a young man's, but his hair was a wild mess, his beard unkempt and ragged.
Where was the proud god who'd become king of the gods? Now he looked like a dropout ready to abandon divinity.
"What the hell happened to you? Why are you trying to throw everything away?"
「I… failed. That's all.」
His voice was tiny, like he wanted to crawl into a hole.
To change this much in just three hundred years. Disappointing.
"Yeah. Disappointing."
I felt his presence shrink inside the room at my words.
"I'm disappointed seeing you broken by that failure, refusing to get back up."
The failure itself didn't disappoint me much, but giving up everything else because of it? That did.
Even after failure, shouldn't you stand back up?
「But… I'm tired. I can't do it anymore.」
Hmm. Has his spirit truly broken?
「The gods dump endless work on me, and the more I do, the more it piles up. The fragments I split off to handle it ignore me and declare themselves kings of gods. Then suddenly a continent rises from the sea with massive mana. I'm exhausted. I don't want to do anything.」
Hmm… burnout syndrome, huh?
Was being king of the gods that tough?
「I heard even you had plenty to do before making fragments. How did you handle so much? I can't comprehend it. How?」
"Hmm. All I can say is I worked hard."
Before making fragments, I really had no choice but to grind.
No one else to delegate to.
Had to do it myself.
It was exhausting, but unavoidable.
If Baal went through that… yeah, burnout makes sense.
"So, you're quitting the divine seat?"
「Yeah. I want to live as a human with no worries. So reincarnate me as one. Otherwise, I won't budge from here.」
Hmm… he's in really bad shape.
Smashing the door and dragging him out would be easy, but with his spirit broken like this, forcing him to work wouldn't help.
So.
"Fine. If that's what you want, I'll make it happen."
「Really…?」
"Yeah. I don't lie."
Though I do omit parts of the truth sometimes.
"But a god reincarnating as a human is unprecedented… so let's do it this way."
I spoke to Baal, who was listening intently from inside.
"You're too worn out right now. Live a full human life, and when you're confident you can return to the divine seat… I'll prepare for your comeback as a god."
「Really?」
"Yes. I'll leave your throne vacant until then. Enjoy your human life… like a vacation."
I don't know how long it'll last, but it won't be forever.
While Baal's soul lives as a human… I'll trim the number of gods down to a manageable level.
Too many gods, and the ones who don't listen are multiplying.
Seeing energetic Baal like this, broken…
First, beat down all his unruly fragments and their cronies.
The kids who got favors from them might complain, but it's necessary.
Cull the gods, collapse the splintered factions, shatter the diversity of faiths, keep numbers convenient, unify global worship.
So, until then.
Leave the throne empty.
For the king of gods who will return someday.
